Filing and display case



Oct. 18, 1938. J. H. FEDELER FILING AND DISPLAY CASE Filed May 4, 1936 ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES FILING AND DISPLAY CASE John H. Fedeler, New York, N. Y.

Application May 4,

4 Claims.

bend over or kneel and adjust means of illumination in order to examine the same and in its place to provide a large number of small boxes with means for hanging the same on a bar suitably placed and illuminated for a close examination of the contents.

In the accompanying drawing, in which I have shown selected embodiments of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a filing and display cabinet having one form of the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a view substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1, but showing one of the receptacles as being pulled out of the casing;

Fig. 3 is a section approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, but showing the receptacle in the same position as in Fig, 2;

Fig. 4 is a view approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, but showing the parts in different positions.

Referring first to Fig. 1, I have shown therein a casing I, which may be of any suitable construction, adapted to contain a plurality of receptacles in suitable compartments. These compartments are indicated by the dividing partitions 2, and the receptacles in those compartments may, for example, have the form of the usual box or drawer 3, or may be of any other suitable form. Preferably, each receptacle is provided on its face with a handle 4 and a labelreceiving space 5, as is usual.

The partitions 2 are preferably of sufiicient thickness to separate the receptacles, as is also usual in this art, and directly in front of one or more of the partitions I provide means for supporting a bar, for a purpose which will presently appear.

In Fig. 1, I have indicated a bar 6 supported in holders or brackets 1 having hooks 8 (Figs. 3 and 4) adapted to be received in holes 9 in fittings secured to the edge portions of the casing beyond the edges of the receptacles. The bar 6 may be permanently secured to two of the brack- 1936, Serial No. 77,753

ets 1 if desired, or may be made detachable therefrom, although, preferably, these parts are all secured together so that the bar 6 and its two brackets may form an attachment which may be detachably secured to the casing by insertion of the hooks 3 of the two brackets in any pair of holes Q. The brackets have sufficient vertical extent so that they rest against the face of the casing when the hooks are engaged in the holes, as will be seen from Figs. 3- and 4, and thus a rigid support for the bar is obtained.

Preferably, each receptacle, for example a box 3, is provided adjacent its rear lower edge with one or more hooks iii, which, when the receptacle is pulled out of its receptacle, may be used to engage the bar 6 and thus support the receptacle in some such position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, wherein the contents of the receptacle will be easily seen. The attachment may be moved up or down to a convenient height, and may be used to support either the receptacles which are normally in the casing adjacent to the bar of the attachment, or may be used to support other receptacles which are pulled out of the casing above or below the bar. For example, in Fig. 1, the bar 6 may be used to support one of the lowermost receptacles 3 or one of the uppermost ones 3", or may be used to support one of the receptacles immediately adjacent to the bar 6 in its location as shown in Fig. 1. The hook 6 is shown as opening upwardly or outwardly, and if the bar 6 is placed immediately above the receptacle which is to be pulled out of the casing, then, as that container is pulled out, it may be tipped upwardly so that the hook will readily engage the bar. As plainly shown, each hook preferably does not extend materially below the bottom of the receptacle to which it is secured, whereby the receptacle may be freely removed from its compartment and returned thereto without. the hook interfering with'one of the partitions or with the bar of the attachment.

In the above description, I have assumed that only one bar 6 is to be used, but I may conveniently employ several bars in a rack, as shown in the drawing. This rack may be used either in connection with receptacles 3, or may be used as a receptacle itself for the display of maps, for example, or other documents which may be hung on a rack.

The rack comprises pieces H which may be provided with hooks 12 to engage the bar 6, and which are joined together by bars l3 parallel to the bar 6 and so spaced on the side pieces that, when the rack is hooked onto the end of the bar 55 5 as shown in Fig. 1, the bars l3 will occupy positions in front of the partitions 2. When the rack is in that position, the side pieces H will likewise be outside of the receptacles, and thus it will be seen that, when the rack is in the position shown in Fig. 1, any receptacle may be pulled out of its compartment, and the hook IU of that receptacle may be caught on the bar 6 or one of the bars I3,

Preferably, the side pieces I I are provided with braces I4 pivoted thereto, for example on the ends of one of the bars I3, and these braces are provided with hooks l5 at their lower ends, which are bent inwardly and are adapted to be received within one of the holes 9, as plainly shown in Fig. 4. It will thus be seen thatthe braces will support the rack either in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4 or in dotted lines in that figure, and may thus present for display and inspection anything which may be suitably supported on the bars I3. Likewise, if found expedient, the receptacles 3 may be supported on the bars 53 when in any of the positions indicated in Fig. 4, although normally when one of the receptacles 3 is to be supported outside the casing, the rack will occupy the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, where any one of the bars 6 or 13 is available to engage the hook or hooks l9. However, it will be noted that the bars I3 have their centers disposed substantially in a common plane not extending through the bar 6, so that when a box is hung on the bar 6 as in Fig. 3, its bottom can contact with all the bars l3. Thus, as the rack is raised or lowered, the box can be moved with it.

The device thus obviously is one which is capable of displaying the contents of the casing in convenient position for inspection. The device has been found particularly useful in connection with filing cases'or cabinets in libraries where space is at a premium. Usually, the cases in a library are placed along rather narrow corridors, and the receptacles at the bottom or the top of a casing are so placed that it is difficult to inspect the contents thereof. For example, if it is desired to inspect the contents of a receptacle near the bottom of a casing, it is necessary to bend over into an uncomfortable position, and oftentimes the lighting facilities are such as to make the light illuminating the receptacle insufficient for ready inspection of its contents.

According to my device, however, it is possible to remove the bottom receptacle, for example, and to place it at a convenient height on the casing where its contents may be readily inspected with respect both to illumination and as to position of the inspector.

While I have shown the invention as embodied in specific forms, it is to be understood that various changes in details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a filing and display case comprising a plurality of compartments, each adapted to contain a receptacle, said compartments being disposed one above the other in the casing and separated by partitions, a rack having a plurality of bars spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of said partitions and each bar being of less thickness than one of said partitions, and means for supporting said rack on the front of said casing, with each of said bars substantially in line with one of said partitions.

2. In combination, a filing and display case comprising a plurality of compartments, each adapted to contain a receptacle, said compartments being disposed one above the other in the casing and separated by partitions, a rack having a plurality of bars spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of said partitions and each bar being of less thickness than one of said partitions, means for pivotally supporting said rack on the front of said casing on a horizontal pivot, with each of said bars substantially in line with one of said partitions, whereby said rack may be swung outwardly from the casing, and means for supporting said rack in any one of several posi" tions with respect to the casing.

3. In combination, a filing and di play case comprising a plurality of compartments, each adapted to contain a receptacle, said compartments being disposed one above the other in the casing and separated by partitions, a rack having a plurality of bars spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of said partitions and each bar being of less thickness than one of said partitions, means for pivotally supporting said rack on the front of said casing on a horizontal pivot, with each of said bars substantially in line with one of said partitions, whereby said rack may be swung outwardly from the casing, means for supporting said rack in any one of several positions with respect to the casing, each of said receptacles having one or more hooks thereon, and means on said casing for pivotally engaging said books on the receptacles and for supporting said receptacles in contact with said rack.

4. In combination, a casing comprising a plurality of compartments disposed one above the other and each having a removable receptacle therein, said casing having vertically extending edge portions at opposite sides of said compartments and horizontally extending partitions separating adjacent compartments, a plurality of pairs of fittings on said edge portions, the two fittings in each pair having attaching means disposed adjacent one of said partitions and substantially identical with attaching means on corresponding fittings of other pairs, an attachment separate from said casing and comprising a pair of brackets and a bar extending therebetween, said bar being not materially thicker than one of said partitions and said brackets having attaching means adapted to cooperate with the attaching means of any one of said pairs of fittings to detachab-ly support the attachment on the casing with said bar in front of, and in line with, one of said partitions, and hooks on said receptacles adapted to support them on said bar, the hooks on a given receptacle not extending materially below the bottom thereof, whereby said attachment may be supported by any one of said pairs of fittings and any receptacle may be freely removed from its compartment and hung on said bar in a position where the contents of the receptacle may be best illuminated and examined.

JOHN H. FEDELER. 

